The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Loropetalum, botanically known as Loropetalum chinense, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘NCI002’. The new cultivar was discovered as an open-pollinated seedling. It is believed to be a cross between the white blooming Loropetalum chinense cultivar ‘Hillier’ (unpatented) and the pink blooming Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum cultivar ‘Blush’ (unpatented). The seedling was discovered in North Augusta, S.C. in 2001.
The genus Loropetalum is included in the family Hamamelidaceae that comprises about 15 genera of shrubs and trees growing in the northern hemisphere. Loropetalum comprises one species of evergreen shrub or small tree which possesses desirable ornamental characteristics. Loropetalum was first introduced to Europe as an ornamental plant in the 1880s and is believed to have been cultivated in North America since the early 1930s. Loropetalum chinense. rubrum is a native of China and was first discovered in 1928 in Hunan Province. It was rediscovered in the late 1980s and subsequently introduced to the United States.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by stem cuttings at North Augusta, S.C. since 2002 has shown that the distinctive characteristics of this new Loropetalum are stable and reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.